1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting head for ejecting a liquid from nozzle openings and a method of driving a liquid ejecting head.
2. Related Art
An ink jet recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer or plotter includes an ink jet recording head for ejecting an ink stored in an ink storage unit such as an ink cartridge or an ink tank as ink droplets.
The ink jet recording head includes pressure generation chambers communicating with nozzle openings, a reservoir which is a common liquid chamber communicating with the plurality of pressure generation chambers, and pressure generation units for causing a pressure variation in the pressure generation chambers and ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle openings. As the pressure generation units mounted in the ink jet recording head, for example, a longitudinal vibration piezoelectric element, a deflection piezoelectric element, a device using electrostatic force, a heating device or the like may be used.
In such an ink jet recording head, when an ink is ejected from any nozzle opening, a partition wall defining the pressure generation chamber is deflected and deformed to the adjacent pressure generation chamber side by a pressure variation of the ink of the pressure generation chamber by the operation of the pressure generation units. Thus, pressure loss may be generated and a variation in ejection characteristic such as the deterioration of the flight speed of the ink or the reduction of the ejection amount of the ink may occur. In addition to the pressure loss due to the deformation of the partition wall defining the pressure generation chamber, such pressure loss is generated between the pressure generation chamber and the reservoir.
Accordingly, a liquid ejecting apparatus for driving pressure generation units corresponding to idle nozzles located adjacent to ejection nozzles to a degree not ejecting an ink, according to an ejection timing of the ejection nozzles for ejecting the ink is suggested (for example, see JP-A-2007-15127).
However, in JP-A-2007-15127, when all the idle nozzles excluding the ejection nozzles for ejecting the ink are driven to a degree not ejecting the ink, power consumption is increased.
Such a problem occurs even in a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid excluding an ink as well as the ink jet recording apparatus.